Thrill & Grill Story
On Friday, January 26th, the Zein AUB Innovation Park hosted a Thrill and Grill Event at The American University of Beirut for students and rising entrepreneurs to learn how investors evaluate startups when investing..
- During the event, Wynk and Clever Cue—two early-stage startups, both only two months past the ideation phase—were grilled live on stage by questions from seasoned investors Abdo Achkar and Ramzi Farah. Their Founders answered questions related to both personal and professional aspects of their life and startup, with valuable insights from the esteemed investors.
- From the extensive rounds of Q&A, attendees learned about what boxes investors are usually waiting an entrepreneur to tick. As Ramzi put it, “Investors are watching your every move.” Every aspect of your life means something for an investor, from the schools you went to, how you deal with stress, who you go to when things crash down, and whether you’re in a romantic relationship, to details about your prototype and its ability to attract users.
- Not only did the event highlight some key features that investors look for, but it also re-arranged the priorities that rising entrepreneurs need to have. When one of the attendees asked Alex, Founder of Wynk App, how he’s going to make money given that the application is free, Abdo replied with, “At this stage I don’t care about how he can make money. I care more about the number of users that he is able to attract, and the number of users already using his application. Money comes at a later stage.”
- That being said, the event was both insightful and amusing, and the Zein AUB Innovation Park wishes the two young entrepreneurs all the luck and prosperity in their journey.